


Anonymously Yours.

by fnowae



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, i don't even know what to tag, oh man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 00:16:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11702799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fnowae/pseuds/fnowae
Summary: Here's to hoping you never find me out.Ambiguously anonymous -Anonymously Yours.





	Anonymously Yours.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm making this up as I go along. This is my seventh (eighth? ninth? I lost count) fic today. I'm...crazy. That's it.

Patrick has never been a writer. That's always been Pete's thing. Pete writes lyrics and poems and emotion and love and Patrick writes...notes to himself to remember to buy milk. 

But Patrick had watched Pete fashion love note after love note to Andy until the two ended up together and honestly, he's willing to take on any strategy he can. Because he's done pining after someone without ever trying to really show his affection. He's going to do this. 

The one problem here, the underlying issue, is that Patrick can't just start sending Joe love notes. For one, he doesn't want the embarrassment. For another, he doesn't want Joe to read them and realize how bad a writer Patrick is and stop talking to him...or something like that. It's reasonable enough, if you squint. 

So Patrick has a solution that comes in the form of not having a solution at all. He writes up an entire note, and in a flurry of bad decisions, signs it as anonymous. 

And suddenly, it clicks into place. Patrick rewrites most of the note and reads what he has on his screen. 

_Joe,_

_I'm no good with words, or emotion for that matter, so what better thing to do than to blend them? And to get this out of the way: I love you._

_There, that felt better. Catharsis within catharsis. I'd make an inception joke, but that makes this sound less poetic. Shit, I've already ruined it. Oh, well._

_Don't ask who I am. I'm not willing to share at the moment. I want you to know that I love you, but I don't want you to know that **I** love you. I hope you understand. _

_Here's to hoping you never find me out._

_Ambiguously anonymous -_

_Anonymously Yours._

Patrick doesn't hate it. He counts it as a win, makes up a fake email address, and sends it to Joe. 

When he clicks send, it occurs to him that it has suddenly become too late to turn back. 

///

_Anonymous,_

_How do I react to this? What do I say? If I had any idea who you were I might handle this better, but I don't. You said not to ask. But I fucking am. Who the hell does this? I'd almost say you were Pete, but your email has proper punctuation and Pete's been lip-locked with Andy 24/7 for weeks now. He wouldn't._

_Please, at least give me a clue._

_Joe._

///

Joe brings it up to Patrick, but in no way because he knows. 

"I'm getting love letters from an anon," he says, frowning at his phone screen. 

"Oh," Patrick squeaks out, hoping he doesn't sound as nervous as he thinks he does. 

If he does, Joe doesn't notice. "Yeah. Whoever they are, I certainly have no idea who they fucking are."

"They probably intended it to be like that," Patrick mutters. (He didn't, really.)

"Yeah." Joe nods. "But, y'know? I still wanna know."

///

_Joe,_

_I can't tell you. I can't reveal myself now. You'd hate me. At the very least, I'm sure you don't love me back. That's why this is secret. That's why I can't tell you._

_I want to. But all this was meant for was to get this out of my system. To get **you** out of my system. I love you, Joe, and I wish I didn't. _

_Stop asking._

_Ambiguously anonymous -_

_Anonymously Yours._

///

Joe confronts Pete in front of all of them, asking, "Was it you?"

Pete frowns. "No idea what you're taking about."

"Were you sending the love letters?" Joe asks, waving his phone screen in Pete's face. Patrick's stomach twists, knowing his sentiments are on that screen right now. 

"Ew, man, no." Pete wrinkles his nose. "You have a secret admirer?"

"I guess." Joe sighs. "Wish they weren't secret, though."

///

_Anonymous,_

_You know what I want to do? I want to say I love you too. But I can't if I don't know who I'm telling!_

_I confronted Pete yesterday. You aren't him. It occurred to me just now you may not even know Pete. What am I saying? I'm talking to you like I talk to my closest friends._

_Hell, I'm talking to you like you're this guy I'm into._

_Ah, fuck, anon, you probably don't want to hear that. But I can't lie. I can't love you. You're just a blank face._

_He's real._

_Joe._

///

Patrick spends the day curled up in bed, crying. No one can get a word out of him, except for "fuck off" and "go away". 

So much to respond to. So much he could say. He needs to say so much. 

///

_Joe,_

_I know Pete._

_Anonymous._

///

"They cut off their signoff," Joe comments, frowning at his phone. 

"Hm?" Patrick asks, as if he doesn't already know. 

"They know Pete. They've gotta be someone I know. Why are they being so short with me? They're mad, aren't they?" Joe groans. "I don't want them to be mad."

"Tell them that," Patrick suggests. 

He already has. 

///

_Anon,_

_Please tell me you're not mad. Don't be mad._

_I shouldn't have said anything. It's just...there **is** someone. There is. I can't lie about that. I can't lead you on._

_How am I supposed to feel for someone who's only defining quality is being no one?_

_Sorry,  
Joe_

///

Patrick knows when to accept defeat. He isn't sure why he thought this would work in the first place. He should know from experience that adopting Pete's method of doing something always ends horribly. 

He resigns. If he can't have Joe's love as Anonymous, he'll at least take friendship. 

///

_Joe,_

_I'm not mad. I don't know what I expected._

_Tell me about him. (You said it was a guy in a previous message, right?) I want to know. I'm sure he's amazing if he deserves your attention. I bet he's super great haha._

_Ambiguously anonymous -_

_Anonymously Yours._

///

Patrick walks past Joe lounging on a couch. He's smiling at his phone. 

Patrick looks away. 

///

_Anon,_

_Well, uh. There's a lot._

_He's really nice, but he's rude when he needs to be. He's talented. He's cute. He's basically my dream guy - but fuck, he'd never like me. I sound like a cliche, don't I? But it's true._

_His name is_

///

Patrick stares at the email, refreshes it, and stares some more. Did Joe accidentally send too early? And conveniently right before exposing his real love interest? This is such a fucking rom com. Patrick groans and refreshes again. 

His phone buzzes. 

///

_Anon._

_Fuck._

///

Patrick stares at the new email, trying to make sense of it. What does it mean? What is it in response to? What happened?

Another buzz. Another email. 

///

_Anon,_

_I've been so blind. I'm an idiot. I was writing that description and I realized exactly what I'd been missing. But this can't be it. This can't be. It can't._

_Joe._

///

Patrick is pretty sure it can't get any worse from here. Then a final email comes in. 

///

_Patrick._

///

Patrick drops his phone. It hits the floor and shatters. Glass bits of the screen tumble everywhere. 

He just stares at it. 

The ingeniously terrible plan that he'd crafted had failed him, and worse than expected. 

Joe wasn't supposed to find out. Ever. 

"Patrick, I - what the fuck?"

Patrick looks slowly up to see Joe standing in the doorway, observing the wreckage of Patrick's phone. 

"Dropped it," Patrick mutters. He makes no move to clean it up. 

"Patrick," Joe begins seriously. 

Patrick remains silent. He holds onto the last hope that it was a fluke, this was all a fluke-

"I know it was you."

No more bluffing. He's fucked. His poker face is broken and beyond that, his opponent's psychic. 

"I didn't want you to know," Patrick whispers, voice hushed. 

Joe crosses the room in two quick strides, glass crunching under his feet. "Why not?"

"Because you don't-"

"It was you."

"Huh?" Patrick blinks. 

Joe pulls out his phone. He can't email Patrick, seeing as his phone is shattered, but he types it up in Notes. 

///

_Anon,_

_Well, uh. There's a lot._

_He's really nice, but he's rude when he needs to be. He's talented. He's cute. He's basically my dream guy - but fuck, he'd never like me. I sound like a cliche, don't I? But it's true._

_His name is Patrick._

_He's you. You're him. And you've been him all along. Why didn't you tell me?_

_I can finally say it. I love you too._

_Joe._

///

Patrick damn near cries. "Are you kidding?"

"No." Joe shakes his head. "I mean every word I write, Patrick."

"Me too," Patrick whispers. "Me too."

///

_Joe,_

_Got my new phone! It's much nicer and also a lot less broken so that's helpful._

_Are we still on for date night on Friday? Bowling? I'm going to beat you. It's the one sport I'm good at._

_I miss you. You left an hour ago but I still miss you. Is this what love feels like? Yes._

_I love you._

_Ambiguously anonymous -_

_Patrick._


End file.
